FUJIFILM vs. Kodak
Fujifilm originated in Japan on January 20th, 1934 after the inheritance of the split-off photographic film operations of Dainippon Celluloid Company Limited. The company was originally founded as Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. by the government as a plan to create a domestic photographic film manufacturing industry. In 1944, Enomoto Kogaku Seiki Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was acquired and Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. was established. In early 1946, Fujifilm acquired another company, Natural Color Photography Co. Ltd. A few years later, in June 1953, the company changed the name to Fuji Color Photo Co., Ltd. By April 1965, the company had changed its name again to Fujicolor Service Co., Ltd. and marketing operations from Fuji Color Photo Co., Ltd. split to form Fujicolor Trading Co., Ltd.
Fuji industrialized in North America in 1955. However, it was not until ten years later it established its U.S. Subsidiary. In late 1965, Fujifilm started the first of many operations in the United States and on December ?, 1965, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. established its first North American comprehensive business in New York State. In July 1988, Fujifilm established its primary manufacturing company, Fujifilm Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc. in South Carolina. In October 2001, Fujifilm obtained U.S. based company Enovation Graphic Systems, Inc. and established Fujifilm Graphic Systems U.S.A. Inc. Fujicolor Imaging Service Co., Ltd. and Fujifilm Axia Co., Ltd merged into Fujifilm Imaging Co., Ltd. in October 2004 and overtook four major domestic photographic distributors. The following month, the company acquired the business of U.S. based company Arch Chemicals, Inc. and 100% joint venture shares of Fujifilm Arch Co., Ltd. In July 2006, Fujifilm acquired another U.S. based company, Dimatix, Inc. During October 2006, the company's two largest groups, Fujifilm Corporation and Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. transitioned into a holding company structure to form Fujifilm Holdings Corporation. In February 2007, the U.S. based company relocated the operations oversees to the Tokyo Midtown Building.
Fujifilm acquired Empiric Systems in November 2008, and their entrance in the medical industry began. In December of the same year, Fujifilm acquired an independent Russian distributor of medical and imaging products. From there, Fujifilm's medical industry continued to grow. In June 2009, Fujifilm Drug Discovery Research Laboratory was established. At the beginning of 2010, Fujifilm USA, Inc. and Fujifilm Graphic Systems, USA, Inc. combined to create Fujifilm North America Corporation, what is known today simply as FUJIFILM. By the end of 2013, they had established companies around the globe in 27 North American states and more than 20 countries. The digital world arrived and Fujifilm knew how to diverisy into the new market. 2014 marks Fujifilm's 80th Anniversary.
Kodak dates back to 1880 when George Eastman began manufacturing dry plates. He invented single-shot pieces of paper that were covered in a photographic emulsion. In 1881, Eastman and Henry A. Strong started a partnership to form Eastman Dry Plate Company and in 1883, William Walker joined the company. In 1884, the company became a corporation with the name of Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company. Together, they invented a holder for a roll of Eastman's photo plates in 1885. In 1887, Hannibal Goodwin created a film base that contained a transparent nitrocellulose. In 1888, Emile Reynaud put perforations into nitrocellulose film. That same year, George Eastman introduced the lightweight, low-budget Kodak camera. The Kodak portable camera introduced snapshot photography and could take 100 photos. Eastman used paper photographic film wrapped around rollers, and registered the trademarked name Kodak. The name Kodak was derived from no particular meaning. The letter “K” had been a favorite to Eastman and he thought the letter symbolized strength. He believed that